The Maldives is located in the north-central Indian Ocean, roughly one thousand kilometres southwest from the Indian subcontinent.
This tiny South Asian nation is comprised of a long and narrow chain of some 1,200 small coral islands and sandbanks grouped into 26 atolls; separated by broad, deep channels.
In total, only about 200 of these islands are inhabited.
Because the Indian Monsoon current sweeps along this island chain, supplying the waters with rich nutrients, the marine ecosystem supports and attracts many large marine animals.
Divers can expect to see lots of grey reef sharks, white tip reef sharks and silver tip sharks as well as many mantas, eagle rays and other big pelagic fish such as tuna, snappers, napoleon wrasse and huge schools of fusiliers and other small fish.
Other species that are quite commonly encountered include whale sharks, mola mola, hammerhead sharks, tiger sharks, thresher sharks and guitar sharks! In fact, the Maldives is seen as the number one dive destination in the world to see with whale sharks and mantas!
The strong currents mean that much of scuba diving in the Maldives is drift diving. Because of this, Maldives liveaboard diving is best suited for experienced divers – those with their advanced open water certification and at least 30 logged dives.